Canton recycling center continues to evolve

The center recently expanded its hours and soon will hire a second employee.

Kelly Byer CantonRep.com staff writer @kbyerREP

CANTON The recycling drop-off center by Ninth Street and Schroyer Avenue SW continues to grow in size and scope.

What opened in 2011 as an electronics-only site now collects more tires than other tri-county waste district sites combined. Scheduled household hazardous waste drop-offs began nearly a year ago and have been hugely successful, said Mark Adams, environmental health director at the Canton Health Department.

"We're booked through August right now, already," he said in late July.

Because of the increasing number of calls, the recycling center recently expanded its hours and is in the process of hiring a second employee.

Renovation

Recycling signs and planters made of old tires welcome visitors at the entrance.

A year ago, the city building was unremarkable and had only an entrance and exit along Melchoir Place SW. There's now an exit on Schroyer Avenue SW.

The center has been remodeled with an air-conditioned office, security camera system, workout room, a women's restroom and a 30-person training room. It's the Health Department's first dedicated training room for city employees and area students.

"I got tired of teaching them in a garage," said Adams, who also is a faculty member at Northeast Ohio Medical University.

He spent $3,200 of his own money, supplied the tools and enlisted his son to renovate the center. The Sanitation Department provided $3,945 and the Health Department provided $3,100 for renovations.

The Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District paid $22,000 for a new fence and $8,000 for the security camera system, which is displayed on two, fixed-up TVs left at the center. Practically all the material — from HDMI cables to office desks to paint— was brought to the facility or donated by city workers.

Education

Kip Gardner, a Stark State biology professor, said he's impressed with the center's growth.

"It was kind of that evolution that gave me the idea to start bringing classes down here," he said.

Adams has been a speaker for Gardner's classes, and the professor toured the facility with students in past years. This spring, Gardner tasked a class of non-biology students with building a sustainable device at the center.

He's continued to assign the project. About a dozen students worked on devices, from water filtration to solar heating, and presented the results in the training room in late July.

Gardner said the opportunity for such hands-on learning is rare, and the recycling options are invaluable to the community.

"I've been involved in environmental issues and recycling and other things for nearly 30 years, and I've never seen anything like this before," he said.

Adams said students have visited from various universities and colleges such as NEOMED, Kent State, Akron, Ohio, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, Findlay, Dayton and Wright State.

Progress

Danny Tan and Colton Masters, sanitarians with the Health Department, often volunteer their time at the center.

"This is good for the community," Masters said. "We have to keep it running, so there are a lot of times me or somebody else will come down here on a Saturday just to keep things running."

In recent months, the Canton City Board of Health promoted the center's only paid employee, Darl Walton, from part-time to full-time and approved a new part-time position. Adams said he paid his son $9.42 an hour, out of his own pocket, to show a part-time employee would be worthwhile and help alleviate the workload.

"The proof is there," he said. "That person will, not only be able to pay for themselves but wait on customers at the same time."

Masters said the center's been "completely overhauled" in the five years he's been there. The city initially hired an independent contractor to dispose of material but now does the work in-house, making money and keeping hazardous material out of landfills.

Metal is sold from disassembled electronics and tire rims, and lead-acid batteries are sold to scrapyards that reclaim the acid. As much as possible is fixed and repurposed. Reusable items like empty gas cans or oils and cleaners in original packaging are put on a free rack.

"Just seeing the stuff that comes in through here is amazing," Masters said. "Stuff that you would never guess is in people's basements or in people's homes. Stuff that's incredibly dangerous, and people will just carry it with them."

A man once stopped by with a trash bag of leaking diesel fuel, fertilizer and ammonia — essentially a bomb — he said.

Some antique items have been donated to the Canton Classic Car Museum and Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum. Others, such as oil and coffee tins, telephones and football helmets, are displayed in the center's office.

"People come here with a smile on their face because they don't know what to do with this stuff," Tan said.

Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323

or kelly.byer@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @kbyerREP

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